Your Right to Know

A Franklin County judge today tossed out a challenge of Gov. John
Kasich’s JobsOhio program.

The ruling by Common Pleas Court Judge Laurel Beatty came on technical grounds, not on the
merits of constitutional claims. She said ProgressOhio and two state representatives did not have
the legal standing to file the lawsuit.

But the law itself requires any challenge to be filed within 90 days, so critics wonder how
anybody would have the legal standing to mount a legal challenge.

Judge Laurel A. Beatty said in her 32-page ruling that she made the decision “despite
understandable concerns regarding some of the provisions of the JobsOhio Act.”

Mark Kvamme, president and interim chief investment officer for JobsOhio, said in a
statement, "We are very pleased with the judge's decision. Now we can focus 100 percent of our
energy on job #1: creating jobs in Ohio."

ProgressOhio’s Brian Rothenberg said, “Essentially this decision says you need to have
(suffered) harm for standing, but you had to file the suit within 90 days, which would mean that
not only ProgressOhio but virtually no one in Ohio would have standing.”

He said he would consult with his co-plaintiffs, Democratic state Reps. Michael Skidell of
Lakewood and Dennis Murray of Sandusky, before deciding whether to appeal.

“The good thing for citizens out of this process is that out of seven things that we alleged
were unconstitutional, six have been reversed by the Supreme Court or the administration itself has
changed,” Rothenberg said.

The remaining issue involves whether state funding of JobsOhio – Kasich’s privatized economic
development agency – is allowed by the state constitution.